Hello Kansas! - The Powers Family (Part 2)

Staying at Cheryl's for the first night was a great beginning to my year abroad...

Her house was very comfortable after a long day of travelling. I ended up waking up at 3am with the time difference...so my first full day was a really long one.

When I had been showered and was ready, I found that Cheryl had already made breakfast! Hot freshly baked muffins - they were amazing! (My mum never bakes so it was kind of a big deal lol)

I met Cheryl's husband Dick that morning also. He was also lovely like his wife and daughter. They decided to give Simon and me a tour of Lawrence and of KU!

The sun was splitting the trees and it was roasting hot! It was so exciting to see all of Lawrence and then see KU before we'd even checked in. Mass St looked like a cool, quirky part of town and then there was KU - I could not believe how massive it was!

Stirling Uni is absolutely tiny compared to any university I've seen/studied in America. KU not only has tons of different buildings, but most of them are huge! Don't get me started on the Sorrority and Fraternity houses - man they are big! They look exactly like the ones you see in the films, like old fashioned mansions with the Greek letters. I was so excited when I seen them!

We went past one sorrority house and there were a bunch of girls outside. Cheryl said they were probably doing their initiation. I couldn't believe it - I really felt like I was in Legally Blonde or something (even though that's set in California but oh well).

A Sorrority House, huge eh?

Later in the day we packed up our stuff at Cheryl's and got ready to check in to KU. Cheryl helped us both with it and I'm really glad she did because it was all a bit overwhelming. Basically, there were hundreds of foreign students, like me, who were all trying to register/check in and figure out what we were supposed to be doing. With Cheryl it made the process a whole lot easier.

Then she helped us both move in to our rooms with our bags. Interestingly, a lot of the other exchange students had families with them, helping them move in - which of whom, I assume had signed up for the family transportation program like me. I think it definitely helped having that bit of support with us.

Then I met Tori, who was to be my temporary roommate at Hashinger Hall for the orientation week until I moved in to Jayhawker Towers. She was a graduate student, 24 years old and from China and I think we both had difficulty understanding each other - although she was lovely. She had already met some of the other Chinese students and seeing that I was alone, they invited me to sit with them at dinner which was nice of them. So we went down to dinner and we ate.

I remember seeing a pretty blonde girl and we caught each others eye. She was alone. Seeing an empty seat next to me, she came over and asked if she could sit with us. We were all like, of course! No-one left each other out, everyone was friendly and made an effort. So she sat next to us. I found out she was Swedish, but her English was very good. So we chatted a lot and I was happy to find that she was really friendly.

Then I remember seeing another blonde girl at the salad bar. She looked really familiar although I didn't know her, I wondered if she was a student from Stirling. Later on I found her and asked if she was Scottish - and she was! She was the first Scottish girl I'd met and she was from Glasgow, like me. I also spoke to another guy who was from England, but studied in Edinburgh - so he could tell I was Scottish right away.

Later on, I found out that the blonde girl from Sweden and the Scottish girl were roommates - it was a really weird but cool coincidence as we could all relate to each other in some way. Then later on, I met two other Stirling students from the north of Scotland - which was really cool! One of the girls I knew from my course (although not very well) and the other I hadn't met before - although they knew each other. 

Although the whole point of the experience is to meet new people from different cultures and backgrounds, it was nice to meet other Scottish girls as they were outgoing and friendly. No-one could understand my accent and it was starting to make me feel a bit homesick - until I met them.

The first day was tiring, but had been a great start. I had met people and was ready to meet more and learn about the other stuff I was gonna have to take care of. The International Orientation Week had begun. 

To find out how it went, become a follower of the blog or check it out on Monday! Comments/questions are always welcome!

Hello Kansas! - The Powers Family (Part 1)

So the 8th of August came and I flew into Kansas City International Airport. What happened next?

I met the lovely Cheryl Powers.

I had been told by the Office of Study Abroad at KU that I was supposed to arrive on August 9th to check in and participate in the International Orientation week. With the time difference and flights and everything I thought I'd be best arriving the day before, deciding to book a shuttle bus from the airport to Lawrence and booking a hotel room for a night.

Me (looking rough) at 2am

Luckily, I didn't have to do either of those things because I signed up for the Family Transportation programme that KU organise and the family that I was assigned to offered me an overnight stay! I couldn't believe it - it saved me a lot of cash and I managed to get in contact with an American family before I even got there! I'm so grateful that KU organised that for me as an International Exchange Student and that the Power's family were so kind to offer that kind of help...

So I met Cheryl as soon as I got off the plane. I was really tired because I hadn't had much sleep but also so excited when I finally landed in Kansas. She seemed to recognise me right away which was great because I was worried I wouldn't be able to recognise her. I remember she picked up another international student from China and since his plane hadn't landed yet, we decided to get a Starbucks.

The first cultural confusion came at this point when I ordered a Caramel Creme Frapauccino and the lady at the counter had no idea what I was saying...and then paying for it because I wasn't used to American money yet. I think Cheryl ended up ordering for me in the end.

So we were sitting with our drinks and Cheryl told me all about her family, which was fascinating - until we heard a scream. We looked around wondering what was going on, until we realised there was a bat flapping about the airport! I was really shocked because I'd never seen one before and Cheryl was really shocked because it was flapping about in broad daylight.

Then we met Simon, who was a nice boy but was rather shy...I think it was a bit harder for him to chat with us because he couldn't speak a lot of english. We got our cases and then Cheryl picked us up at the entrance.

The heat hit me like I'd stepped into a sauna. I really didn't expect Kansas to be that hot, I thought it was more like Scotland in terms of weather but man was I wrong. I was wearing jeans and a vest top and I was sweating. It was over 100 degrees farenheit (that's a big deal when you come from Scotland).

On the drive back to Cheryl's we spoke a bit more and I just couldn't believe I was there. Finally after all that time, I was actually gona be studying in the States!

Then we got to hers and I met her daughter Cara who had studied abroad in London. After we introduced ourselves she asked us what we wanted to do. Shower and sleep...by then I realised how tired I was...I was so excited I forgot about being tired. 

I went to Caleb's old room and got ready for bed...the whole time I kept thinking I can't I'm actually here. Cheryl's house was so beautiful. It was a great way to start off my year abroad, with a family. 

The next day would be my first full day in the United States, and my first day at KU! Read about it this Friday and become a follower of the blog! Comments/questions are always welcome!